Why Was Carol at the Hospital at the End of Slabtown? [SPOILERS]

Warning: MAJOR (and we mean MAJOR) spoilers for upcoming episodes of Season 5 of The Walking Dead – including set photos that confirm rumors. You have been warned – leave now or forever hold your peace.

If you watched Episode 4 of The Walking Dead entitled “Slabtown”, the latest episode featuring the return of Beth Greene, you know the last 30 seconds of the show left you speechless – and with about a million lingering questions.

After being saved/kidnapped (you can decide) by the cross car people in Season 4, fans were finally treated to Beth’s harrowing journey since that fateful night. Evidently, she was “saved” by a group of armed police officers who found her struggling to survive – not too hard to believe. But after awakening in the hospital, she learns that she must “repay” her debt in the form of physical labor or sexual favors for the male police officers.

At the end of the episode, Beth happens upon the group wheeling in a new hospital guest – the big twist, it’s Carol! This has left a lot of fans wondering whether Carol was intentionally infiltrating the hospital in order to save Beth, or whether Carol was actually injured on her journey with Daryl and subsequently picked up by the police officers (Daryl’s face at the end of Episode 3 would suggest the latter).

Both theories make sense – if Noah escaped, he could have found Daryl and Carol and let them in on everything that had been going on in the hospital. This would also answer the question of who was with Daryl at the end of Episode 3 “Four Walls and a Roof.”

But we have reason to believe that Carol was not intentionally infiltrating the hospital and was, in fact, injured while trying to find Beth.

Back in July, The Spoiling Dead Fans had released filming news that Melissa McBride’s character “Carol” was hit by a car during filming and kidnapped by the same cross-car police officers that took Beth. Read the update, along with set photos, below:

“Tracking: It’s highly likely that a scene was filmed earlier of Carol being hit by a station wagon with a cross on it. Spectators say that after Carol was hit, two individuals dressed as cops came out of the vehicle. After seeing them, Carol faints and is loaded into the vehicle on a cot. The broken window on the car was replaced after the scene was shot. We know MMB (Melissa McBride) arrived back from the scene with what looked like rope burns on her wrists and her stunt double arrived back about an hour later looking ‘pretty damn rough.’ Could this be related to the vehicle with a cross we reported on about a month ago and the car chase with Norman & Melissa? Pics of the station wagon that struck Carol below prior to filming. How many cars in the ZA are sporting crosses? We’ll keep an eye on this and clarify any info as we confirm it. Thanks to Brooke Lee, Kim, Cha and friends for the info. ~Shiny”

(BELOW: Melissa McBride with her stunt double)

(BELOW: Carol hit by a station wagon during filming)

With all the pieces coming together, we think it’s pretty clear that Carol wasn’t pulling off some “master plan” to recover Beth, but was rather a victim of circumstance. Either way, with previews already up for next week, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting the answer to these burning questions for at least another two weeks. What do you guys think? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments section below.